IndiePulse Intros: Smooth Panda

Smooth Panda is the brain musings of Tim Culberso and Gerritt Tisdale, the two are self proclaimed as “two of the biggest nerds you’ll ever meet” and connected while working on another music project in 2017. Tim invited Gerritt over to his house to help him set up his home studio and Gerritt started playing around with some beats that night. Tim sat listening. A melody hit Tim and lyrics started flowing. They wrote their first song– Addiction – before they had a clue what was happening.

Tim and Gerritt have this crazy symmetry in their styles and musical background. They both love soul, R&B, hip hop, funk with an 80’s flavor. They had a blast writing Addiction. So they decided to keep writing.

So how did they decide on “Smooth Panda” as their name?

There has to be some irony involved since it’s a duo of musical nerds. It turns out it was more randomness than anything else.Tim and Gerritt were hanging out one day when Tim spotted a framed drawing of a panda with sunglasses sitting on Gerritt’s coffee table. “That looks like a smooth panda.” Tim astutely pointed out. Gerritt’s eyebrows went up. “That’s a cool band name.”“Ok,”Tim replied. Smooth Panda was born!

Listening to their tracks, one hears the natural chemistry and a blend of intellectual composure while retaining the gritty edge of their urban home and of the street itself. Smooth Panda has fantastic symmetry between music and lyric ascension, it brings the listener to new heights with emotionally stirring beats.